What drives the operation of a railroad?

Your picture looks like a Z scale model railroad. :)

In response to your other thread, I used to work with Schenker a few years ago. They are a great company to do business with, and from what I understand, they now run a fleet of trains throught to Mainland China for freight. Is this true now?

I agree the freight and passenger service is much more efficient and better than the US. In part it is because the railroads were beaten up terrible by the airline and trucking companies which got big subsidies in the 1950s and 60s while the railroads had to pay for everything themselves. In fact all their taxes went to subsidize the competition, and they ended up cutting service to keep up. Today things are getting better, but a lot has changed, and sadly we've lost a lot too in the meantime that will never be regained.

In Europe too people are more accepting of railroads, their added value, and more respectful of the danger that they represent. In the US, the neighbors complain about the trains making noise and ruining their property values rather than seeing the rail service as a bonus to their transportation problems. In a local town near me, Winchester, MA, the locals are complaining about Tighe Trucking reactivating a freight siding. They're complaining already that a few deliveries a week are going to cause the neighborhood to devalue and there will be noise and polution. Oh by the way, the people complaining to the newspaper are also out of town real estate agents! One of the woman complaining doesn't even live near the tracks, but is complaining anyway because she can!

Many of these people also would rather sit in traffic for hours each way to work rather than taking the trains. People here also think nothing of walking on a ROW, and the parents will blame the railroad for hitting their children who walk on the tracks. It seems that the only time they like a railroad is when it becomes a rail-trail (path) for them to jog on with the old depots becoming ice cream parlors with a few freight cars on static display.

John

​Couldn't have put it better myself. The horns only make noise but they don't pollute the air. Hence the reason the are called air-horns. And I do get sick of people(parents) blaming railroads for kids getting hit by trains. There's a reason that there's fences wherever railroad tracks that are active are in use where there is buildings of any sort. Plus it's their property. Unfortunately parents don't teach their kids in America anything since they probably weren't taught any moral values themselves. I think it should be a felony or federal offense to trespass railroad property. That should certainly deter people from trespassing railroad property.
 
One thing you have to take in account here in the States is that since the end of WWII, we have become a car centric nation. After the war, gas was cheap and plentiful, and cars were cheap and plentiful as manufacturers ramped up production. As more highways were built, especially the Interstate system Americans took to driving as their primary means of transportation. Owning a car became part of the American dream, almost a birthright. In a country where some States take hours or even days to drive through, the car became king. You could leave when you wanted, take any route you wanted, and stop anyplace you wanted. Americans love convenience and freedom and the car gave us that, beyond anything the railroads could ever do. Couple that with bad business practices by the railroads themselves, and government policies that were not conducive to the railroads benefit and it pretty much sealed the fate of the railroads.

Even today, we still would rather get into our cars as opposed to riding a train or other mass transit service. I live about 40 miles from New York City. By train it's from 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on if I have to make a connection. If I am headed into the city for a leisurely day, I will usually take the train. But if time is of the essence, I'm going to get in my car and drive and I can be there in under an hour. I can leave whenever I want, and not be bound by a timetable.

When I travel to Europe, I admire and envy even the public transportation systems. But here, it's a different story, I don't ever see it getting anywhere near the "golden days" of yore. Never mind needing the infrastructure, culturally it's just not something we would embrace on the whole, not to mention the influences of the oil and automobile industries bent on maintaining their footholds.
 
Well, we were car minded before WWII as well. Remember the Ford Model T take off?

:p We were born a car loving national, all set backs and advantages included!

- Joshua
 
Well, we were car minded before WWII as well. Remember the Ford Model T take off?

:p We were born a car loving national, all set backs and advantages included!

- Joshua

True but we didn't have the high speed/capacity highways until after the war for the most part. before that, roads were dusty, bumpy and slow moving. People would drive locally, but for long trips they took trains.
 
railyway operation

The operation of the railway is via a control system,basically by mechanical means, but now more commonally electronic and computerized.
 
So what you are saying: "The operation of the railway is by an electronic and computerized, mechanical control system" ? ... What does that mean exactly ??? It sounds like a brilliant assumption :eek:

Just as: "The operation of Ward Trucking Company, or United Airlines is by an electronic and computerized, mechanical control system" NoDarr :hehe:
 
Although not known to all unless you have traveled Amtrak in the 15 or twenty years, Amtrak does carry freight wagons in the rear of the train.

Cheers

AJ
 
The operation of the railway is via a control system,basically by mechanical means, but now more commonally electronic and computerized.

There are still many places that have no signaling or any other physical controls - called dark territory. Control is maintained with Track Warrants or Train Orders and Time Tables. These are written documents that state the terms under which a train has rights to be on a given section of track. This requires thinking on the part of of the train crew and not just stop or go based on the color of a light. We have yet to develop these "dark territory" controls in Trainz, but given time . . .

And thanks for resurrecting this thread. Guess I need to write and post the next chapter.

David
 
What drives the operation of a railroad is profit, money, revenue, and an economy ... if people are not buying goods, a Company can't stay in business, and they will ship their goods via truck, or close their doors ... they just don't run a train so that railfans can say: "Ooooo That looks cool" !
 
In Trainz, a RR should have a purpose, at least 2 terminus, and should go somewhere, and perform a task ... and shold not just a run on to nowhere, an endless purposeless route.

Too bad that would cause a lot of problems. Starting with operational efficiency, performance impacts, finding enough content, and ultimately the creator themselves. It takes a lot of time, research, effort and in certain cases, money. That's why I create several different sections of my fictional routes and although they may not have many or any terminal and look like a road to nowhere, it actually, in the grand scheme of things, does put two and two together and satisfy the criteria.
 
One thing you have to take in account here in the States is that since the end of WWII, we have become a car centric nation. After the war, gas was cheap and plentiful, and cars were cheap and plentiful as manufacturers ramped up production. As more highways were built, especially the Interstate system Americans took to driving as their primary means of transportation. Owning a car became part of the American dream, almost a birthright. In a country where some States take hours or even days to drive through, the car became king. You could leave when you wanted, take any route you wanted, and stop anyplace you wanted. Americans love convenience and freedom and the car gave us that, beyond anything the railroads could ever do. Couple that with bad business practices by the railroads themselves, and government policies that were not conducive to the railroads benefit and it pretty much sealed the fate of the railroads.

Even today, we still would rather get into our cars as opposed to riding a train or other mass transit service. I live about 40 miles from New York City. By train it's from 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on if I have to make a connection. If I am headed into the city for a leisurely day, I will usually take the train. But if time is of the essence, I'm going to get in my car and drive and I can be there in under an hour. I can leave whenever I want, and not be bound by a timetable.

When I travel to Europe, I admire and envy even the public transportation systems. But here, it's a different story, I don't ever see it getting anywhere near the "golden days" of yore. Never mind needing the infrastructure, culturally it's just not something we would embrace on the whole, not to mention the influences of the oil and automobile industries bent on maintaining their footholds.

It's getting more difficult to achieve that though. In fact in big cities it can take up to an hour just get from one side to the other and that's with optimal conditions. On the topic of infrastructure if ours continues to crumble, then railroads just might have an opportunity to get back in the game. As the oil is concerned, it's not that serious as well rely heavily on foreign oil so that's not something to be worried about. Not to mention in California a lot of people are relying on mass transit and rail with gas prices being so darn high as is the case with everything else here sadly. There's opportunities it's just a matter of marketing and providing. Americans are stubborn and loyal to a fault. We are strong minded and don't like changing our ways even when bad things happen due to our unwillingness to change. Like with the airline industry. It amazes me people still use airports like they do yet complain about the fees, inconveniences, restrictions as to what can be brought on board and so much more. I mean let's not even bring up the piss poor amenities or lack thereof on the planes once you get on.
 
Back
Top